Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies [upon] the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
Ver. 7. Arise, O Lord, &c.] If the Lord do but arise only his enemies shall be scattered; those also that hate him shall flee before him, Psalms 68:1. And God will arise and harness when his people put his promises in suit by their faithful prayers. This Moses knew, and therefore appointed the priests, whensoever the ark removed, to say, "Rise up, Lord," &c., Numbers 10:35. Commanders must pray before they lead on their forces to battle, as did Huniades, and that late brave king of Sweden, more addicted to prayer than to fighting; according to that,
Vincere quisquis aves hostilem exercitum, age ante
Invictum, vincas per tun vota, Deum.
Save me, O my God ] David had many good old soldiers about him, as the Cherethites, Pelethites, Gittites, and others that would stick to him, 2 Samuel 15:18 , - Animasque capaces mortis (Lucan.), mighty men of war, and chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field; himself also was a man of war from his youth, 2 Samuel 17:8, and not used to be worsted; yet he flees to God for deliverance, and pleads the covenant ("Save me, O my God"), which is that Alvearium Divini mellis, the beehive of heavenly honey. So Psalms 119:94, "I am thine, save me."
For thou hast smilten all mine enemies on the cheek bone] Thou hast given them a box on the ear, as Queen Elizabeth once did the Earl of Essex, turning his back upon her uncivilly, upon some discontent. Or, as some great man doth a mean fellow, with whom he scorns to fight. Thou hast sent them away with smart and shame enough, Job 16:10. Thou hast so handled them that now they may go seek their teeth in their throats, as the proverb is. God's hand is a mighty hand, saith Peter, 1 Peter 5:6, it is a fearful thing to fall into it, saith Paul, Hebrews 10:31. For who knoweth the power of his wrath? saith Moses, Psalms 90:11. His enemies are sure to speed worse than did Dares in Virgil (Aeneid), whom, when he had been well beaten by old Entellus, his fellows led away
Iaetantemque utroque caput, crassumque cruorem
Ore reiectantem, mistosque in sanguine dentes.